


Soul Mates

by Tinuviel_Undomiel



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rumbelle Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 23:10:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5473997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinuviel_Undomiel/pseuds/Tinuviel_Undomiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Daemon AU, cocoa and snuggles. Rumple is Belle's rather unusual daemon and she finds herself with some very unusual feelings for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soul Mates

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Rumbelle Secret Santa gift for zapiarty on tumblr. While this story features daemons, I more used the Hist Dark Material's as a base and it doesn't strictly follow those stories. Still, I hope everyone enjoys it.

            Belle had always known she was odd.

            It was apparent when she was five and she went to the playground with Rumple, her _daemon_. All of the other kids her age had cute animals: monkeys swinging from the gym set, furry squirrels sitting on shoulders, even a large cuddly bear that stood watch over his charge. But Belle didn’t have some playful rabbit or mischievous fox as her guardian. Her _daemon_ walked like a human, had all of the same appendages, but that is where the similarities ended. He had grey-green skin that had golden scales that glimmered in the sunlight. His eyes were ever changing, sometimes amber, other times grey, and on rare occasions a fiery red.

            Her parents’ _daemons_ had named him Rumplestiltskin, but Belle had taken to calling him Rumple as a child. She had never cared that he was so different. She had never wanted a furry animal to cuddle with, Rumple was the perfect companion in her eyes. He was there to dry her tears when she scraped her knee, to push her forward when she struggled through her homework, and to hold her close when she lost her mother forever. If she was feeling blue over something, he always knew cocoas and snuggles would fix her right up.

            Belle’s father never understood her attachment to her peculiar _daemon_. He himself had an ordinary ferret as a _daemon_ that he treasured like a pet. But Belle never saw Rumple as just her _daemon_ ; he was her beloved friend.

            _Daemons_ are supposed to change form as their charge grows towards adulthood. Rumple had changed his shape when the occasion called for it, such as turning into snarling bear to fend off a wild dog that tried to bite her once. However, Belle never wanted him to retain a permanent new form. “I like you just the way you are,” she insisted. So he stayed the strange almost-man form that he had been since her birth.

            Moe French had made calls, asking why his only child had such a strange _daemon_ , but no one could offer him a clear answer. It was eventually decided that Belle was an _imaginum_ , a person who was able to create a _daemon_ of her own choosing. It had happened before, quite rarely. There had been none in recent history. Many had thought _imaginums_ a legend; a myth even, but now there was undeniable proof.

            Belle didn’t care about what she was or that everyone gave Rumple odd looks everywhere they went. She liked that he was different. The fact that they were both utter misfits made her feel less lonely.

            Belle was fifteen when she discovered just how odd she really was. She was waiting outside of school for Ruby when Keith Nottingham snatched her book out of her hand.

            “Keith! Give it back!” Belle cried. She leapt to her feet, reaching out for the book. Keith topped her by roughly a foot so there was no chance of her getting it back by just plucking it from his hand.

            Rumple stood behind her, glaring at the teenager and his falcon _daemon._ “Why are you reading, it’s so boring,” Keith said, “You should come watch me play basketball instead.”

            “I don’t find the idea of watching guys throw a ball around a court as exciting,” Belle told him, “Now give me my book back.”

            “I think we should go out.”

            “I’d rather eat dirt,” she said.

            “Don’t be like that,” Keith told her.

            “I’m just being honest,” Belle told him, “No matter how many times you ask, the answer will always be no.”

            It was quite a sight to see Keith’s face turn as red as a radish The veins in his neck bulged and she half expected smoke to come out of his ears. “I was just trying to be nice,” he hissed, “Do you really think any other guy would want to go out with a freak like you?”

            Freak.

            It was a word Belle had heard in whispers as she grew. Her mother had called her “unique” whenever she questioned why she never fit in. It certainly sounded better than “freak”.

            Keith dropped her book in the dirt, kicking it aside with the toe of his boot. Belle scooped it back up, hugging it to her chest and swallowing back her tears. She wouldn’t let him see her cry.

            Rumple’s hand curled around her shoulder, it’s warmth seeping down into her bones. He was far better than Keith or any boy she knew.

            Ruby came trudging out soon after with her _daemon_ Wolfe pattering at her side. “Hey, Belle, ready to go?” She nodded meekly, standing up from the grass and wiping the dirt off of her pants. “Is something wrong?” Ruby asked.

            Belle had no intention of telling her friend everything, but there was one question that was burning a hole in her brain. “Do you think I’m a freak?”

            “I think we are all freaks in some way or another,” Ruby replied.

            Belle smiled a little. “Okay, but am I a freak in a bad way?”

            “Of course not, why do you ask?”

            “I don’t know,” Belle said, “I’m just wondering.”

            “It’s Keith, isn’t it? I saw him leaving, was he being a jerk again?”

            She reluctantly shared the brief conversation, including Keith’s reaction to her rejection.

            “What an asshole,” Ruby said, “Don’t listen to that jerk, he’s just pissed because the only action he gets is with his fist.”

            Belle smiled despite herself. “I suppose that could be true…but?”

            “What do you mean?” Ruby asked.

            “I know you’re thinking about something you don’t want to tell me.”

            Ruby shook her head and sighed, reaching down to pet Wolfe. “Don’t get me wrong, Keith is a jerk and nothing he said was true. But, I can’t help but notice that you haven’t shown an interest in any of the guys in school.”

            “And that makes me weird?”

            “No, it’s just something different, not weird,” Ruby said, “Are you into girls instead? Because that’s cool, I mean I’m kind of into the new Asian girl.”

            “No,” Belle told her, “Its not that, I just…I don’t know, I just don’t…want any of them. None of them understand me, not like…”

            Belle tripped over a root, almost losing her balance had Rumple not grabbed her arm to keep her steady. He always had her back, always saw to her needs. It comforted her, but at the same time it frightened her.

            “Not like who?” Ruby asked.

            “No one,” she said, “My books.” It was the first lie she could think of, but Ruby bought it.

            Only one person understood her because he was like her: a misfit, an outcast, a freak.

            Belle had read all about love from Jane Austin’s words to Charlotte Bronte’s. She had read thousands of poems about love gone right, love gone wrong, and everything in between. How could she have missed what was right in front of her all along?

            Rumplestiltskin noticed by that evening that something was wrong. He always had, ever since she was child. He was her other half, the side of herself she knew she could never live with out. This was what had driven Heathcliffe mad, haunted the writings of Dante, carried the heart of Colonel Brandon, sweet, torturous love.

            “Something on your mind, dearie?” he asked her.

            “Just thinking about things,” Belle said.

            “Not about that foolish boy, I hope,” he said, “If I could, I would rip his tongue out for what he said to you.”

            “No, not exactly that.” The idea of Keith losing his tongue wasn’t entirely unappealing. “But I wasn’t entirely honest with Ruby before,” she said.

            “Oh?” he was toying with a circle of string, forming intricate patterns in his hands. Now he stopped, giving her his undivided attention. “And who has caught your eye? Hopefully not that Gaston lout with more brawn than brains.”

            “No,” Belle told him, “I don’t want any of the boys in school.”

            “Ah,” he said, “Some movie star then with dreamy eyes and dashing good looks?”

            “No, I know him very well.”

            “Well then who, dearie?” he knotted the string around his finger tightly, almost choking the poor digit.

            “You.”

            Rumple let the string unravel from his finger, it coiling into a ball on the floor. “What?” he gasped.

            “I want you,” Belle said, “Only you. No one in the world can understand me like you do.”

            “Belle, I’m your _daemon_.”

            “I know that.”

            Rumple shook his head. “You—you can’t be serious.”

            “I am.”

            “It’s impossible,” he said, leaping to his feet. He started pacing the length of her bedroom, his black boots whispering against the pale blue carpet. “You’re imagining things. You’re confused.”

            “I know what I feel. I know that I love you.”

            “You can’t!” he shouted, “Belle, you can’t! It can never be! There is no future there!”

            “No one knows what could happen in the future,” she said. Belle slid off of her bed, resting her book on the coverlet. She walked over to him while he paced her room like a caged tiger. She gently placed on hand on his shoulder, stilling him in an instant. “I know this is strange, but I am strange. We have never fit in anywhere, but when I’m with you none of that matters. I only really feel like myself with you.”

            He stared at her like she was nearly a stranger to him, like he couldn’t believe just who stood before him. “Belle,” he said her name in so soft a whisper that it was more breathe than sound.

            She took her chance, leaning forward to gently press her lips to his. Fire spread through her veins, sending warm tingles through her bones. She could feel hear heart racing inside of her chest. Her heard was spinning fast than a merry-go-round. It was a gentle kiss, sweet and perfect, making her crave for more.

            Rumple pulled away slowly, opening his eyes. “Belle, we can’t do this. I’m your _daemon_ , your soul.”

            “Maybe you’re more than that,” Belle said, “Maybe you’re my soul mate.”

            “That is impossible. You are only dreaming, Belle. You need to find someone who is human, someone who can give you a future. I would only keep you alone,” he said.

            “I’m never alone, not with you,” she insisted.

            “Belle, no matter what you say or what you want, we will never have a future. It’s time for you to open your eyes and see that!”

            Rumple had never yelled at her before. He had always been her source of her comfort, but now he looked pained to even look at her. Belle stepped away from him slowly until the back of her knees hit her bed. She sank back down stiffly to her soft blankets.

            “Find someone else,” he told her coolly, “someone real.”

            “You’re real to me,” she whispered.

            “Perhaps,” he said, “but I won’t hold you back. I’m meant to guide you, not to keep you from living your life. Forget this foolish love, Belle. It isn’t real. It can never be real.”

            Rumplestiltskin walked out of her room, seeking shelter somewhere else in her home. He had never done that before. Whenever she had needed an escape, he had been there with her to hold her tight. For the first time in her entire life, Belle was truly alone. There was no one there to soothe her tears as they fell.

            It was strange being at odds with Rumplestiltskin, like there was some sort of disconnect in her heart to her soul. Eventually the came to the unspoken agreement to just never speak of it again, but that didn’t change how she felt.

            Moe worried about his daughter and her lack of interest in dating so much to the point where Belle agreed to let Ruby set her up a few times. She went out with some very nice boys; one even stole a kiss, which was nice, but nothing like the fireworks she had felt with Rumple. However, she could never forget the fact that Rumple was always there. There was no way to detach him from her, nor did she want to. He was still her dearest friend, even if he didn’t want to be more.

            The thing was, she wasn’t so sure he didn’t. When Will had kissed her she could have sworn she heard a distinct growl coming from him. He had been grumpy the rest of the night, to her secret delight. It gave her hope that one day he would change his mind. Until then, she would wait and avoid Ruby and her father’s need to match her up as much as she could.

            It was a relief when she graduated from high school and went to college. She no longer had to pretend interest in dating. She made new friends like Ariel Waters, Mei Lan, and Anna Frost, but her favorite times was when she was studying in her dorm room. Rumple would fix up some hot cocoa on the cold nights and she would snuggle up with her back to his chest as she read from her textbooks. Sometimes she would fall asleep like that, almost believing she could feel him press his lips to her hair and stroke her face before her dreams took her.

            The plan was to go on an adventure after college, see a bit more of the world, but then Moe got his blood tests back from his yearly physical. This was followed by more tests and very bad news.

            Belle returned to Storybrooke and took a job at the library to help make ends meet while her father was in and out of the hospital. Rumple was there for her every step of the way, teasing at her as she kept a pile of books in the library to read at home later, holding her hand as she waited for her dad to finish with his treatment.

            Then came the worse news.

            As a young child, Belle hadn’t truly understood death. The loss of her mother was quick. A car accident had stolen her from them. Her father had set her on his knee and calmly explained that she wouldn’t be seeing her mother again. It was so quick, no chance to say goodbye.

            It was worse seeing her only parent left slowly waste away. She had to keep smiling, keep promising him that she would be fine, while crying at home as more bills came. Eventually, the day came where she knew it would all end. Belle held on to her father’s hand while Rumple cradled Ivy, her father’s ferret shaped _daemon_. Her father gave her hand one feeble squeeze and then let out a rattling breath. Ivy shut her eyes and vanished. It was over.

            Time stopped in that moment as Belle felt her father’s hand go cold in her grip. Rumple continued to keep his arms cradled, though there was nothing to hold anymore. The nurses came and then everything happened so fast. Her father’s body was wheeled away. Ruby and Granny came with food and took her home. The funeral was a few short days later where everyone talked about how they would miss him and how sorry they were. Then the coffin was lowered into the ground next to her mother.

            Granny, Ruby, and the rest of the town filled her kitchen with food. Her friends lingered, offering her their sympathies and help if she needed it. Once the last of them was gone, Belle took a deep breath. Silence at last.

            “Belle? Dearie?” she heard Rumple say from behind her. “Is there anything I can do?”

            Maybe he expected her to break down and cry. To be honest, she thought she would, but it seemed she had cried out all of her tears. Now there was only emptiness and…fear. Her father had told her over the years all of his plans. To one day sell the flower shop, buy a boat, and sail around the world. One diagnosis later and everything changed. So many dreams gone to waste.

            Then there was Ivy who had just vanished once her father’s last breath has expired. One moment she was there, then she was gone, erased from existence. There wasn’t even a corpse to bury, no headstone to commemorate her. She was nothing now.

            That scared her more than anything.

            “Belle?” Rumple’s voice was so close to her now that it startled her. She slowly turned around to face him. He looked so worried, his grey eyes downcast, one hand reaching towards her. “What do you need from me?”

            She took his offered hand, then his other, tangling their fingers together. She leaned towards him until their lips were just a breath apart. “You,” she whispered, then closed the gap between them.

            The kiss was painfully brief, one small spark of fire, and then Rumplestiltskin was pushing her away again. “Belle, we shouldn’t,” he said.

            Shouldn’t was better than can’t. Perhaps they shouldn’t, but that didn’t have to stop them. Not now, not when time was so terribly short.

            “Rumple, I want you,” she said, “I always have and I always will. I don’t want to die tomorrow or in fifty years and hate the fact that we never had our chance; that we let our fears rob us of what we could have had. My father died never truly fulfilling his dream. I don’t want that to happen to me.”

            Belle reached up to cup his scaly cheek with her hand, her heart jumping as he leaned into her touch. “I don’t want that to happen to you either. I don’t want you to fade into nothing once I’m gone and to have never truly lived. We only have each other now, Rumplestiltskin. Why should we hold ourselves back?”

            Maybe it was the fact that he could deny her nothing, not now when she was grieving. Or maybe it was seeing Ivy disappear in an instant, the only thing close to a parent he had was gone and forgotten by all others. Most of all, Belle believed that he was tired of fighting himself on what he really wanted. But this time, when she leaned in to kiss him again, he didn’t pull away.

            For a while they just held each other and explored with their hands as they let the fire consume them both. It was a victory to simply kiss him. But Belle wanted more.

            She slid one hand through the open collar of his shirt, feeling his heart beating a fierce tattoo. Their lips broke away so they could drink each other in with their eyes. What she was in his lust and something softer, sweeter, and precious.

            They kissed and fumbled all the way to the bedroom, shedding his shirt, her blouse and his belt along the way. He unhooked her bra and gently pushed her down onto the bed. He knelt over her, his hair tickling her face. For a long moment they just stared at each other, hardly breathing. Then he reached over to gently touch her breast, savoring its softness and warmth before giving the nipple a pinch. Belle gasped, arching into his touch. She didn’t know it would be like that.

            Then he set his lips to her nipple and fire tingled through her blood. A breathy moan escaped from her lips and she dug her fingers into his hair. “That feels so good,” she whispered.

            He continued to suckle at her breast like a new babe while he rolled and pinched her other nipple with his fingers. The fire was raging through her blood, beating out a strange pulse between her legs. She had read novels, and once even watched a dirty film on a girl’s night with Ruby just to see what all the fuss was about, but this was so much better.

            She was eager to feel more of his skin, and it appeared he was of like mind. She fumbled with the laces of his pants while he pulled off her black skirt and then tore her stockings into shreds. Belle had seen naked men from pictures and movies, and Ruby had been all to eager to share the vivid details of her exploits with her, but it was different seeing Rumple. His gold scales shimmered in the dim light from the window. He was scaly all over, though his skin didn’t appear as rough on his belly…and further below.

            Belle reached towards his straining cock, slowly wrapping her hand around it. It was thick and hot and surprisingly soft, much like her own private bits. She gave it a gentle pull, like she’d seen in the movie. Rumple let out a growl, causing her to squeeze it tighter with a wicked smile.

            “Sweetheart, I won’t last,” he said, “not if you keep doing that.”

            Belle saw that his cock was weeping now, leaving a bead of moisture on her hand. She let go of him, never breaking eye contact as she licked away the fluid. It was tasted of salt and musk, exactly as she thought he should. A fierce look shined in his eyes, sending heat coiling in her belly.

            Rumple grabbed her ankles and tugged her down so she was lying back on the mattress. He held her legs apart, feasting his eyes on her glistening curls and pink folds. He used his thumbs to part her folds, breathing in her scent for a moment, and then set his mouth to her.

            Belle nearly shot off the mattress. Her lips fell open in a silent scream, but she had not voice. His tongue was searching out every bit of moisture, swirling around her entrance, flicking occasionally at her clit. Could one die of pleasure? She may just find out.

            Finally, he set his lips to her clit and thrust one finger into her passage, sucking the swollen bud. Belle let out a scream, her whole body shattering all around her as she arched up into him. Her blood was tingling with fire, heat filling every facet of her being. It felt like hours before she came back down to earth, gasping in air while Rumple gazed at her with a smug look on his face.

            “You’re beautiful,” he said.

            Belle gave him a smile before yanking him back up for a messy kiss. Rumple used one hand to position himself and then slowly slid his way inside her. There wasn’t pain exactly, more of a slight discomfort as her body stretched to accommodate him. Despite their need, he was very careful with her. Waiting until she nodded before he began to thrust. With his first return, all of the discomfort was gone, leaving only pleasure behind.

            Rumple started of slow, but each thrust had her moaning. Soon she was begging him to go faster, harder. He was all to eager to obey her. Soon he was pounding into her as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

            “Oh God, yes!” she cried. This was so much better than even she could have imagined.

            He surprised her by untangling one of her legs and setting it on his shoulder. He thrust even deeper at this angle, touching a place inside her she didn’t even know she had. Stars burst behind her eyes as she came around, her walls clamping around him. Rumple let out a hoarse shout as he released himself inside of her. He fell over her, both of them drinking in each other’s air. She could feel his heart pounding in the same rhythm as her own as she felt his cock softening inside of her, sending out tiny sparks of fire through her again.

            Eventually he rolled away, slipping out of her entirely. Belle wasn’t eager to let him go, so she held onto him, settling down onto his chest. She felt Rumple place a tired kiss into her hair.

            “I love you,” Belle said.

            Rumples fingers traced circles over the sweat slicked skin of her back. “I love you too, my Belle,” he said softly. Belle hummed with a smile and pressed a kiss to his chest. There would be not regrets now, not as long as she had him.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

            It was 6:00 which meant it was time to begin shutting down the computers and lock up the library for the night. Belle finished checking out Ms. Ginger’s cookbooks and wished her a good day. Rumple was very good at expressing his boredom by once again perching himself on her desk and letting out little, dramatic sighs. She made a point to ignore him this time, trying to hide her smile. Sometimes, if the mood struck him, he would start kissing her neck, sliding his hands under her skirt, as she was trying to finish her work, leaving her moaning and eager to lock up so they could go home and finish what he had started. A few times they didn’t even make it home before they gave in to their need.

            Belle took pity on him when he let out an irritated growl. Glancing his way so he could see her let go of one button of her blouse. It wasn’t enough to show anything, but it was a promise for more. This time his growl was for an entirely different reason.

            She was still that “odd French girl” among the gossipmongers in Storybrooke. No one could understand why she refused any man who offered to take her out, why she took no interest in settling down. Her friends suggested blind dates, dating websites, etc. No one knew that she was quite attached to someone already, but that was her secret, hers and Rumple’s.

            Belle left her desk to go check to see if there were any stragglers left. She trailed one finger down his cheek as she brushed past him, letting out a giggle when he immediately leapt off the desk to follow her. It looked like they wouldn’t be able to make it home tonight after all. She had the distinct plan to let him take her in the reference section, the most isolated part of the library. Unfortunately, that ended when she passed the youth section.

            A boy with a mop of dark brown hair occupied one of the comfy chairs for readers. At his side was a small black pony with a vibrant, curly main and a long, horn protruding from his head. “Henry?” Belle said.

            Henry looked up from his book of fairy tales, blinking at her in surprise. “Oh, hi, Miss French.”

            “Sweetheart, what are you doing here? It’s closing time?”

            “Oh, sorry, I guess I lost track of the time.”

            Belle smiled and pulled up the chair beside him. “This is the fourth time this week you’ve been here until lock up. Is something wrong? Why aren’t you out playing with the other children?”

            Henry shrugged one shoulder, but his eyes turned his _daemon_. Belle knew that look all too well. “Are the other kids picking on you because of Shadow?”

            He didn’t say anything, but she saw him give her a slight nod. Still, he reached out to stroke Shadow’s mane. Ever since she’d seen Henry and his _daemon_ , she knew the boy was just like her, an _imaginum._ Perhaps they weren’t as rare as people thought. There was some comfort in knowing she and Rumple were quite as alone as they thought. Perhaps even others had fallen in love with their _daemons_ just like her.

            “Did you ever wish Rumplestiltskin wasn’t so…different?” Henry asked.

            “No, of course not,” Belle said, “He wouldn’t be Rumplestiltskin if he wasn’t.” She put one hand on Henry’s small shoulder. “Henry, the reason those children make fun of you is because they don’t understand you. When faced with someone special like you, they react with fear and jealousy. They want you to feel out of place, to feel ashamed of who you are. I know because I went through it too.”

            Henry looked at her with large, pleading brown eyes. “What did you do?”

            “I embraced it,” Belle told him, “I decided I would let them talk, let them wonder. I am who I am and I don’t want to change that. Let them have their ordinary _daemons_ , I only wanted my Rumple.”

            She reached over to stroke the side of Shadow’s face. “You love Shadow, right?”

            “Of course,” Henry said right away, “He’s the best.”

            “Then don’t feel bad because he’s so different, be blessed because you both are so special.”

            She smiled at Henry and ruffled his hair. “You better get home now, though, your mom is probably worried about you.”

            He nodded. “Thanks, Belle. I’m glad I have you as friend.

            “Always,” she said with a fond smile and walked him to the door. It wasn’t until after she had locked it that she realized Rumple hadn’t followed her. He was standing in the center of the library, looking at the very door Henry had just walked out of. “Rumple?”

            “You’re good with him,” he said.

            “He’s a sweet boy, it's not hard.”

            “You would be a wonderful mother, Belle.”

            Belle blinked at bit at him. “That’s sweet, but what an odd thing to say.”

            “Do you want children?”

            “I hadn’t really thought about it, why?”

            He looked down at the floor. “I could never give you children, Belle. You know that.”

            “So? That doesn’t matter to me.”

            “Don’t you want more out of life? We could never have a real future together. No one would ever accept us as we are.”

            “Maybe not,” Belle admitted, “but we can’t be certain of that. And we do have a future together. It may not be the traditional one of marriage and children, but you and I have never been the traditional sort.”

            She closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I don’t need any of that to be happy. All I need is you. As long as I have you, Rumple, then I know my future will be full of joy.”

            “I don’t want to hold you back,” he said.

            “Never,” she whispered, “You make me complete.” She pressed a kiss to his lips, pouring in him all of her love and desire. She knew he still had his doubts, but she knew in her heart that this was right for them. This was all she wanted. She knew that as long as they had each other, even if the world shunned them for what they were, she would have no regrets.

            He held her close, whispering his own words of love. As they stood there together, surrounded by books and their own desire, the rest of the world didn’t matter. It was only each other and that was all she needed.


End file.
